New Podcast Episode featuring Portents of the Degloved Hand!
over 1 year ago – Thu, Apr 27, 2023 at 08:50:02 AM

Raven Portents on the Mad Dungeon Podcast!

Portents of the Degolved Hand creator, Matt Johnson,  is featured on this week's episode of the Epic Level's Mad Dungeon Podcast! 

In the Mad Dungeon Podcast D&D hip hop group Epic Levels and a guest create a system-neutral, playable dungeon room using improv, comedy, and lifetimes wasted on roleplaying games.

Check out the adventure Matt and the Epic Levels crew created!

Listen to the episode here!

Thanks! 

- Raven Portents and Exalted Funeral

Next Deck...DESTRUCTION!
over 1 year ago – Mon, Apr 24, 2023 at 09:49:15 PM

Deck of Destruction

When you roll a three, it’s time for a smashing spree!

Yep, this update is focused on the Deck of Destruction – and all that’s fun!

We’ll start with “Limb of Maggots”. Because, Mörk Borg.

The card reads:
“Your weapon becomes a rotting limb, destroying it forever. Automatic hit against your enemy. The limb bursts on impact, covering your enemy with maggots. Reduces Morale to 0.

The maggots hatch and flies torment you the remainder of the day. DR+2 to all Presence tests.”

So, you’ve got a perfectly good sword, but you don’t like your odds. Maybe you’re outnumbered or wounded, or just scared. Activating this Portent turns that sword into a quivering mass of rotting flesh and guarantees that your enemies will flee.

The downside? You no longer have that sword. Also, you are harassed by a swarm of flies for the rest of the day, making it difficult to focus. But hey, you’re alive. That’s something, right?

Next we come to a Portent for the more cunning player, a card titled “Ignorant Flame”.

On the surface, it seems pretty simple:

“In exchange for 6d6X6 worth of silver pieces, every scroll that comes within 30 feet of you bursts into flame and is destroyed until you die.
Knowing your bargain, anyone literate will treat you with disrespect.”

But, the reality is, this one could get complicated. First of all, every scroll in your possession, and the possession of your party members combusts into ash the moment this Portent activates. GMs should really have fun with that. Same goes for any scroll in the possession of friend or foe that you encounter. Staying 30 feet from everyone is going to be a challenge.

But the cash, man! You’re loaded! Woo!

Yeah, you’re now a massive target unless you’ve got a way to unload all that moola in a hurry. Maybe you’re paying a ransom. Or, paying to keep yourself alive from an evil wizard (with lots of flammable scrolls). Ha! That could be handy.

This is also another example where the GM and players need to lean into it. Anyone literate (not you, Fanged Berserker) treats you with contempt. Don’t let that slide.

Finally, we have “Contagious Fury”, a card that will create all kinds of chaos and dissent.

The card reads:

“For one combat round, you and each member of your party has DR-8 Strength and DR+10 Agility rolls.

The following combat round, you attack a member of your party with DR-3 to your attack roll and they have DR+2 to their defence roll. You now distrust each other.”

Basically, when the Portent activates on a player’s turn during combat, everyone gets triggered and experiences a collective psychotic episode of rage. The first round, it’s all about landing blows against your enemies and not even trying to defend yourself. The next round gets weird, because you inexplicably attack one of your friends. Yeah, forgiveness isn’t really a thing in this game. Good luck keeping the band together now.

OK, so that’s a glimpse into how you break things with the Deck of Destruction. Hope you enjoyed this preview. As always, thank you to all of our backers who have made this project possible! We truly appreciate all of the comments and feedback that we’ve received so far and we’re excited to see how this campaign wraps up as we get closer to the end.

-Raven Portents and Exalted Funeral

2nd Deck Reveal...DISEASE!
over 1 year ago – Thu, Apr 20, 2023 at 04:01:12 PM

Deck of Disease

In this update we're going to talk about three of the cards you could draw if you sacrifice an Omen in exchange for a Portent and you roll a 2 on the custom d4.

That’s right, we’re talking about Disease – and it’s venomous bite.

We’ll start with a weird one – and that’s saying something. “Hacking Cough” is probably best for desperate situations.

The card reads as follows:
“The urge to cough overwhelms you. Roll d6 to determine the number of times you cough.
For each cough, DR14 Presence attack on the enemy nearest you. Each successful cough splits the skin of your target doing d6 damage.

Your lungs are infected and bleeding. You lose 1 HP per day and cannot recover from rest.”
So, this one is a little involved. You roll a d6 to see how many times you lose a lung. Then, for each time you cough, you roll a DR14 Presence test to see if the cough manages to do harm to your nearest target. Basically, if you roll well, you could have up to six chances to attack an enemy. If you’re successful, each of those attacks could do up to d6 damage, which in Mörk Borg terms, is nothing short of devastating.
Oh yeah, afterward, you’re infected and you lose 1 HP per day without the ability to recover, so . . . it’s literally a question of time before you die.

The next card we’re focusing on is only a little less strange, and that’s “Infection Rejection”.

The card reads as follows:
“Any infection somebody else has is removed and YOU gain d4 HP.

You cannot rest or recover HP lost for d2 days. Everything aches.”
In other words, you get to be a healer for someone else who is infected (in your party or otherwise!) and gain additional d4 HP and hope it’s enough to keep you alive for up to 2 days.
It’s probably not, but you might stay alive for a little longer than you would have otherwise.

Our third Deck of Disease card really leans into the whole make-everything-miserable vibe.

Simply titled “Maggot Mouth”, the card reads as follows:
“Your tongue becomes a massive, wriggling maggot from which a crow-sized horsefly emerges and attacks an enemy until killed. D6 damage on bite, HP 2.

The maggot flesh rots and you never speak again.”
Lots of good stuff here – the cinematic drama of your tongue becoming a wriggling maggot and hatching a massive fly. The fact that the fly attacks an enemy on your behalf. And let’s not forget, your character no longer gets to speak at the gaming table. Someone (probably your GM) is bound to be happy about that.

Well, that’s the update for  this time around. Thank you to all of our backers! We really do appreciate how excited you are for this project and we look forward to sharing more with you soon!

-Raven Portents and Exalted Funeral

Deck of Disaster
over 1 year ago – Fri, Apr 14, 2023 at 02:19:23 PM

In this update we're going to talk about three of the cards you could draw if you sacrifice an Omen in exchange for a Portent and you roll a 1 on the custom d4.

That’s right, we’re talking about Disaster – Quick to strike!

Our first example is “Eye of HE”, a reference of course to the male two-headed basilisk, Gorgh & Verhu. When a player who has obtained this Portent chooses to activate it on their turn, this happens:

With our now remaining eye, let’s examine the text a little closer.
“One of your eyeballs erupts with a bolt of lightning, striking one enemy. 3d12 damage.

You now have a blackened eye socket where your eye once was but you see the ghost of every corpse you encounter, Presence DR +2 when you do.”
So, basically, you get to blast an enemy for a deadly amount of damage and in exchange, you lose an eye.
But, here’s the GM note to this one: The blast will likely kill your target. That means you are now standing near a corpse. That means you will now be able to see the ghost of the corpse you just created thanks to your new ill-gotten power.
Have fun with that.

Our second Disaster is “Burning Waterskin”.

It reads simply:
“The water in a waterskin you possess turns to lamp fuel.

So does your urine.”

This is a total opportunity for rules-light improvisation. During actual play testing, a character used this Portent to hose down four pig men (we were running the pamphlet one-shot “Pork Börg” by Gizmö) with the contents of a waterskin, evade attack, light a bomb, and proceed to ignite a barbeque for the ages while fleeing for their life.
GM note: A character that now possesses such a novel ability could become a target. What gutter merchant or aristocrat wouldn’t enjoy profiting from what this character can now produce? Conversely, how might a player use this to profit or obtain power?

Lastly for this showcase of life-changing (ending?) circumstances is “Never Twice?”

Roll d6. 1-3, a second bolt strikes you. D6 damage.
4-6, a second bolt strikes a second enemy. D6 damage.”

This Portent is really straight-forward, you just have to be in the mood for gambling or be very desperate. Strike one target and probably kill it. Then roll a d6 and hope you don’t get struck by lightning. If you do, it must have been your Fate as foretold by the Degloved Hand.

Thank you to all of our backers! We’re so excited that you’ve helped make this project happen!

-Raven Portents and Exalted Funeral